Streaming Live is accomplished through software (OBS) that sends our stream to a broadcaster (Castr.io), which in turn sends the stream out to two places viewers can watch (YouTube and Facebook).

Read on for help with OBS, Castr, YouTube, and Facebook.

OBS

OBS stands for “Open Source Broadcasting Software.” This single piece of software does two things at once: (1) records sermons to the computer’s hard-drive and (2) produces the live stream that we broadcast.

Recording Sermons takes a lot of the computer’s brain power, so keep all other applications closed and all browsers to an absolute minimum. In fact, if you find the video freezing or lagging, it’s likely due to something as simple as a user playing in the settings of OBS or keeping too many tabs open in the browser.

Recorded Sermons get put into a folder on the desktop called, “Raw Sermon Files.” OBS does this automatically, so you don’t need to do anything. But if you ever want to edit the sermon video for later, this is where you can find the file.

Streaming live should start automatically when you hit “start recording in OBS,” but it doesn’t hurt to check and confirm that OBS shows the app as both recording and streaming. (To find this, look in the bottom right corner of OBS where you clicked “Start recording.”

OBS produces a streaming key which is put into Castr.io. To find this, you’ll need to go into OBS settings (File > Settings > Stream). Typically, you won’t need to take any action with the key. In fact, be very careful with the streaming key because any slight change could mess up Castr and our weekly live streams.

Castr

Castr.io is a broadcast service that simply takes one video signal and makes it into two. This is how we stream services live to two platforms simultaneously (YouTube and Facebook).

Castr works best with Google Chrome, so please use the default browser (i.e. Google Chrome). Castr’s support team advises all its users to stick to Google Chrome. Since stability and consistency in streaming is goal #1, we’ll happily oblige. Even if you prefer another browser on your personal device, stick to Chrome on the church’s computer upstairs.

Castr should start automatically once you’ve started recording in OBS. It does take a moment to catch the stream, so wait a moment for Castr to catch up to you. Once Castr recognizes the incoming stream, you’ll see the dashboard switch from “offline” to “online,” and the video will appear in the box at the rightmost side of the screen.

YouTube and Facebook can be found under the “Published Platforms” on the dashboard. If there is anything wrong with these, you might see the toggle switch is set to “off” or that a small line of text appears: “connecting…” In either of these cases, you could toggle the switch between on and off.

If Facebook stays stuck on “connecting…” and doesn’t fix itself, you should then delete the connection by clicking the Trash Can next to Facebook. Don’t panic; the fix is simple. Just click “Add Platform,” then choose Facebook’s icon and “Login” (rather than the manual connection method). The password is saved in Google Chrome, so Castr should be able to set it up without any further steps! Way to go.

YouTube and Facebook

These are our two live streaming platforms -- free and with fantastic reach. They’re pretty much maintenance free, but you can always pull up their webpages if you’d like to keep an eye on things. Both are bookmarked in Google Chrome in the Crowsnest.

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SERMONS ON THE APP / WEBSITE

Any sermon that you see on the app or website is an edited version of our service stream. These sermons are uploaded into a tool called “Subsplash.” Simply put, Subsplash makes our app and website awesome.

Read on for how to edit sermons, upload to Subsplash, or make sure videos show up in the app.

Editing Sermons

Editing sermons can be done on the Crowsnest computer in an app called “Davinci Resolve.” The goal here is simply to cut the full video down so that it’s only the sermon, sync the audio so that the pastor’s words and movements match, and then save the new file.

Open Davinci Resolve and add the sermon video you want to trim. (You can find the sermon video files on the desktop in a folder called “Raw Sermon Videos.” OBS sends all its recorded files here.)

Intimidated by what you see? Check out the first 2-3 descriptions of the many screens and options in OBS.
Got a bigger appetite for learning? Watch full training videos from OBS here.

Trim the video down so that it’s only the sermon. We like to simply drag the playhead (or the big bar that tells you where you are in a video) to where the sermon starts, then right-click and select “split clip.” Then you can just click the clip before the sermon (it’s now a separate clip) and delete it. You can do this to cut out the worship and any extra video that’s at the end of the sermon!

Want to watch a video on other ways to trim? Watch how to edit here.

Or want to read about your options? This link gives a few options, and this one gives you some nifty keyboard shortcuts to help.

Sync the audio so that voices match movements. For this, you need to select the audio pane (music icon at the bottom of Davinci Resolve). Once you’re there, you can see the video and audio as separate blue and green bars. Slowly drag the audio bar to the right (by just milliseconds!) and line it up. Watch and listen carefully with headphones in so you can get it tight.

Wondering how much the sound will be off? Sometimes we sync as little as 0.05 and as much as 0.15. If you’re having trouble getting this specific, turn off the “magnet” icon above your video and audio bars, then zoom in and try to go slow.

Want to watch a video on correcting audio? Watch more here. You can also get some decent tips here.

Save the video by clicking “Export” and selecting the folder called “Ready to Upload.” This will save the finished video to our church’s Google Drive, so that it can be uploaded to Subsplash. Exporting videos takes a while, so once you get it started, feel free to leave! You (or someone else) can get the finished file into Subsplash later.

Finished files should get published in Subsplash but first you’ll have to set it up for a new sermon file:

Go to Subsplash > Library > Media.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
Select the Media Series you’re uploading to (they’re clearly labeled by location).
Once inside the Media Series, select “Create Media Item” in the top right corner and give the sermon a title (Passage Reference).
Subsplash will then load a page where you input all of the sermon’s information. You should make it look like the picture below:

Now you’re ready to upload the video and publish it!

Drag the video onto the video box to get it started. Make sure you keep the browser open and the computer awake -- if you don’t, the file will get corrupted!
Once the video starts uploading, you can also add the Talking Points for the sermon. (Title this “Talking Points” or it won’t show up online.)
It should look something like this:

And don’t forget before you go to set it to “auto-publish” later!

If you don’t see the video later, just log into Subsplash and hit “Publish”! One last set of reasons that sermons won’t show up is that you haven’t added them to the right Series or List. So double-check that the sermon you uploaded was in the right Series. Then go to “Lists” (menu in left of Subsplash) and be sure that Sermon Series is in the List for your campus (i.e. Timberlake Sermons should have the series within it.)

If you don’t see the video in the “Current Series” tab of the app, you just need to add it to the right list. Go to “Lists” (menu in left of Subsplash), then “Current Series” and hit “Add Media Item.” Select the sermon you want to see added, then save. If you don’t hit save, nothing changes in Subsplash!

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AUDIO ONLY IN APP / WEBSITE

If your campus / location does not record sermon video but posts audio only, this is a shortcut introduction to your process. The process is the same as above, but you might find it easier to see just these brief steps:

Click “Create Media Item” in the top right corner. Title it with the Scripture Passage only.

Fill in the rest of the details, just like you see here:

Upload your audio file (and discussion guide file), then hit auto-publish or save. Don’t close the browser or let your computer go to sleep until after the file is uploaded in full. If the computer loses connection at any point, the file will be corrupted.

Check later that the file did in fact publish. If not, check the following quick fixes:

Log into Subsplash and hit “Publish.” Sometimes, it’s really that easy.
Check that it’s added to the right Series. Double-check that the sermon you uploaded was in the right Series. If it’s not, you’ll want to locate the file (maybe in another campus’ series) and move it to the right Series.
Check that the Series is in the right List. Go to “Lists” (menu in left of Subsplash) and be sure that Sermon Series is in the List for your campus (i.e. Altavista Sermons should have your series within it.) If it doesn’t, add the Series to the list by clicking add then searching for that series.

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PROPRESENTER IN SERVICES

ProPresenter is how we display lyrics during worship and notes during the sermons.

During worship, the lyrics can simply be overlaid on the black bar.

During the sermon, the notes should be overlaid on a custom bottom third. These can be found in ProPresenter’s bottom third templates.

If you need to find an original file for one of these, you can find it in Google Drive’s Shared Drive called “Digital Media Library.” (Access only permitted with the crowsnest@crosspointonline.com login.)

For sermon notes, graphics, or anything else you need, simply open Google Drive. You can do this using the File Explorer (which works using Google’s Google Drive File Stream), or by opening Google Chrome and drive.google.com. If you don’t know the login, ask your team leader!

EDITING SERMONS AND VIDEOS

For more on editing video files, click here. Instructions will be posted further down the document.

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K I D S’ C H E C K - I N

ADD A NEW FAMILY

Adding a family is simple, but there are a few items you must get right in the system!

Make sure you hit these big three while putting in any new families:

Kids and Parents | We need both. It’s easy to think “just put kids in” the system, but we need and want both parents and kids. Every parent’s key contact info is necessary: name, email, phone number. Input parents first, then add the child to their family unit.
Child’s D.O.B. | The system sorts locations (Nursery, PreK, or Kids Church) by age. This means that if you don’t put in the child’s date of birth (D.O.B.), the system won’t let them check into a location. Simply edit the profile, add a D.O.B., and Planning Center will put them into the right location.
Food and Diaper Concerns | While adding a child, you should always get an allergy or health information (put this in the notes at the bottom of their new profile), and you should always make sure you ask the parent about the 3 check-marks that show up just before you finish checking a child in: are they ok with snacks? Diaper changes? Do they have allergy concerns? This will all keep the kids safe and our volunteers on the right side of all our parents.

To learn more about adding new kids and families or watch a video on how to do it, check out this support page!

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ROOM REPORTS

Printing room reports is simple. The Room Report tab is bookmarked in Google Chrome. Click it, adjust the date to this weekend, and hit “Preview” or download the PDF. From here, you can print it out!

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PRINTERS & PRINTING

The kids’ check-in area has 3 printers: 2 small label printers and 1 standard paper printer. The 2 label printers can be found on the counter top; these connect to the tablets to print check-in labels. Meanwhile, the 1 standard paper printer can be found beneath the counter top; this connects to the computer to print room reports.

Label Printers | These small printers connect wirelessly to the tablets. To check settings or refresh the connection, scroll to the bottom of the check-in app on the tablet. You should see a small gear icon, which brings up a passcode screen. (Rather than tap in the passcode, which is 007619, you should tap the box below the passcode for “Printer Settings.”) From here, you can test print to refresh the connection.

For more on the Station Settings, click here. For troubleshooting, click here.

Standard Printer | This printer is not for big print jobs but mainly for room reports.

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GOOGLE DRIVE ACCESS

Accessing Google Drive WITHOUT a Google Account

This is actually pretty simple.

When you get an email regarding a shared folder or shared drive from Google, you can just click “open” to access.
Rather than sign in with a gmail or google account, click “create account.”
If you ignore the first few boxes (like email and name), you should see a blue link that reads, “Use my current email instead.” (Pictures at this link)

Take that, Google.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

| A U D I O + V I S U A L |

| K I D S’ C H E C K - I N |

| G O O G L E D R I V E A C C E S S |

| PLANNING CENTER |

STREAMING LIVE

SERMONS ON THE APP / WEBSITE

AUDIO ONLY IN APP / WEBSITE

PROPRESENTER IN SERVICES

EDITING SERMONS AND VIDEOS

ADD A NEW FAMILY

ROOM REPORTS

PRINTERS & PRINTING

Accessing Google Drive WITHOUT a Google Account

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